This photo shows the view from my apartment on a sunny day late in September, looking northwest and northeast.

 

 

Until recently, these three blocks were unused concreted areas.

In little over a month, the foundations have been dug and set (about three floors down) for two large commercial buildings.

The Sangnam Dong area of the city, seen here, is growing on a rate I would not have believed if it weren't that I walk through the "construction site" every day.

I would confidently say that half of those buildings seen in the distance (not the tall apartment buildings) have been opened within the past year or two.

 

I've seen these machines used to drill (I'm guessing) at least fifteen or twenty metres into the ground to place steel girders which are then used to create a wall to keep up ground around an excavation for deep foundations.

This one, however, is drilling just a few inches from a well-established building and has been in operation for a couple of days now.

I wonder what the purpose is of many things I see happening over here and would walk right up and ask them if I thought they'd be able to tell me.

I often seen women flocking together to emerge from buildings with what appear to have been either a very good bargain or a special give-away.

In this case the bags they've got are full of rice.

 

 

 

I counted over sixty women in this oncoming stampede, each carrying enough toilet paper to last someone like myself about four years.

The thing is, they never have anything else.

They come all the way downtown, many with their friends, get their bargain and go straight back home.

Also, notice how many are carrying umbrellas despite the glorious sunshine.

I don't blame them for wanting some shade, or for protecting their skin from the strong, harmful rays, but many seem to carry them on cloudy days as well.

 

This (right), as strange as it looks, is a very popular alternative to carrying an umbrella.

A sun visor almost safe enough to weld with and a pegged towel covering the rest of the head, neck, face and as much else as they can fit under it seems to do the job just fine.

Every unoccupied piece of land or building plot is used for growing fruits, vegetables and cereals.

Their rate of crop rotation and the amount produced from such small spaces are quite impressive, especially when you see the women who tend to them are often very old and unable to stand-up straight.

This photo shows grain put out to dry on the street late in September. It's only recently that red hot peppers have dissapeared from the street-sides.

 

As you can imagine, this corner of my apartment is where I spend much of my time in Korea.

Having cheap broadband internet connection allows me to stay tuned to my favorite radio stations around the world and use my computer as an almost complete source of entertainment and information, as well as for keeping in touch with friends and family and, of course, maintaining this web-site.